Internship

Internship: Aquaponics

Maintaining, improving and monitoring a circular urban farming system!

As an aquaponics assistant, you are involved in designing, improving and taking care of the aquaponics system. You will be sharing your knowledge about the plants and the system in open tours and workshops. We are looking for students with a study related to agriculture or horticulture who would like to enrich us with their knowledge and love to explore how to make an aquaponics system work with optimal results. Don't worry if you have a different background. Any person with green fingers is welcome to apply.

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Demmy working in the Aquaponics garden - Filippo Iannone

Aquaponics

At Mediamatic Biotoop we have an aquaponics farm that is smoothly running. We are producing herbs and flowers that are used in different departments of Mediamatic, like the kitchen, clean lab, and aroma lab. Aquaponics is a farming technique in which fish and plants are cultivated together in a constructed, circulating ecosystem. Natural bacterial processes transform excrements of the fish into nutrients for the plants. This is an environmentally friendly, natural method, that makes use of the best characteristics of both aquaculture and hydroculture. However, there is always room for improvement, and we see aquaponics as a place to experiment and find solutions for some of the problems of today. 

'Research'

One of the current experiments in aquaponics concerns the water use of the system. Especially during summer we have to add a lot of clean tapwater to the system. Nowadays, our dependance on water is becoming more worrisome as droughts are starting to get more prevalent and the quality of our groundwater is decreasing. This makes us want to be mindful when it comes to our water consumption. Since we have the canal on our doorstep, we are exploring if we can use this water, which is commonly perceived as 'dirty', to irrigate our plants. Our approach to research is quite hands-on: we learn by doing, observing, and collaborating. In the end, Mediamatic is not a formal science institute, but we like to push boundaries and present exciting and innovative ideas to the public.

Work

As an aquaponics assistant you will have various and diverse responsibilities, among which:

  • Managing the tasks in greenhouse; like sowing, harvesting plants, repairing the system, and checking nutrient levels
  • Giving tours in the greenhouse 
  • Communicating with other departments about ways to make use of the produce
  • Researching materials and techniques that we use for the system
  • Contribute to the ongoing 'research' on water use in the greenhouse
  • Communicate findings on the website
  • Possibly contribute to other parts of the Mediamatic program
  • Other work to be determined in consultation. We are open to explore your interest

Your profile

  • You write and speak English fluently (and possibly Dutch)
  • You have good communication skills
  • You work well independently, are curious, and have a hands-on mentality

HBO/WO level of thinking and not afraid to take responsibility

What do we offer?

  • An inspiring work environment and a lovely team.
  • A lot of responsibility and the possibility to explore innovative ideas.
  • An internship where you will gain unique experience working at a cultural institution. 
  • Here you can find all the important information about doing an internship at Mediamatic.

Apply

Send a short letter with resume in PDF format to werk@mediamatic.nl stating “internship aquaponics”. Also let us know when you can start the internship.